This invention relates to medical guidewires which are used by physicians to access body lumens or other remote areas within the body.
Guidewires are widely used in conjunction with therapeutic devices, such as catheters, which are threaded over the guidewire to gain access to an area within the body requiring diagnosis or treatment. Typically, a guidewire has a significantly smaller outer diameter than therapeutic devices and can therefore be inserted into the body to access remote areas more easily. When the guidewire is positioned at the desired location within the body, the therapeutic device is passed over and guided along the guidewire to the location. The therapeutic device is then utilized to diagnose and/or treat the area at the location.